Stay at Home What?

I don't really like the term stay-at-home-mom. I can't quite put my finger on why but it just bugs me. I know it's just a term used to identify whether you work outside the home or not but really a mom is a mom no matter what. 

Moms who stay at home are moms.

Moms who go to work are moms.

Moms with babies in heaven are moms.

Moms to fur babies are moms. 

A mother is not defined by a specific parameter.

Somehow this big thing got started. (Some call it the mommy wars.) As if there is one specific way to raise a baby. Bottle vs breast. Cloth vs disposable. Stay at home vs go to work. Homeschool vs public school. It goes on and on. 

But what it really comes down to is this: love your kid and do the best you can every single day. Because being a mom is hard enough without all the other stuff. I am not the first person to say these things or feel this way and I hope I won't be the last either! Less judgement, more compassion.

(And I think this stuff applies to dads too but I'm not a dad so I can't really say.)

All of that to say; I am so lucky to get to spend my days with this kid. And I really love being his mom. Even if that means sometimes I have to clean up all the poop. 

(I'm sure by now you have all seen that video and know what I'm talking about but if not-An Open Letter to Moms by Kid President. You can thank me later.)

And now, more pictures of my kid. Because it's my blog and I get to decide. ;)

^^ I was sitting at the computer (probably blogging) and I look over and this kid is just lounging out on this blanket. He laid like this for ten minutes! So dang cute and always keeps me laughing.

^^ Charlie loves a good selfie. Cheese ball. :)

It's Fall, Did You Hear?

(October 19, 2013)

A few weekends ago we took Charlie to our ward's annual hay ride and party. The weather is starting to cool off around here so we bundled up and it was really fun! Charlie had a very serious look on his face the whole time. He wasn't too sure about hay rides (or maybe it was his hat). Haha. It was a good time!

All the kids were loving playing on the hay bales. All the kids, and my husband of course. ;) 

Me and Olivia. And Charlie's head.

It's nights like these when I feel so grateful for our little family of three. I know Charleston is a little young to remember these kinds of things but I really like making traditions and doing little fun activities as a family. My most vivid memories from my childhood are the ones where we are doing things together-rounding up the cows in October, going skiing on Monday mornings, dressing up to act out the Nativity on Christmas eve, or piling in the boat on a hot summer day. Those are the things I remember most and it's so fun to create that for Charlie even if it is a little intimidating! 

We are also really glad to have such a tight knit ward out here. I say it all the time but being away from our families is so hard! But having a ward and good friends we can lean on makes it easier. 

Big Eater

(August 3, 2013-October 19, 2013)

^^ Charleston's very first taste of real food (besides popsicles) and he loves it! Well he has learned to love it. Haha!

^^ The kid refuses to drink from a bottle but right around the time we started giving him solids he learned how to use a sippy cup. So far he has only had water or juice but it's soooo nice that he can use one!

^^ This might be my favorite picture of him ever. 

^^ The reason why he seems to never be wearing clothes is when we first started giving him solids we would usually feed him right before bath time so we would just strip him down to his diaper for easy cleanup! Now he's eating solid foods more than once a day though so we can't do that every time and he gets a little messier. 

^^ This is his that-was-kind-of-sour-but-hurry-up-and-give-me-more face. He loves prunes. Weirdo.

^^ His new favorite thing-ritz crackers. 

He also eats a plethora of other foods like-noodles, raw and cooked veggies, real fruits, those little puff thingies, and he pretty much gets bites of whatever we eat. He's also gotten really good at gumming stuff down and not choking! And he really likes chocolate chip cookies. ;)